24 Live or Die

Standing in an unknown area, Ren could hear the sounds of breathing of the other participants next to him. Some were trembling due to anxiousness, some were trembling due to fear, and some stood tall brimming with confidence. There were a total of twenty-four young men around the ages of 12-15.

"As you all know, you will be taking the test for the entrance of Root. We in Root protect Konoha from all potential threats, do the dirty work, all in the shadows for the village." An old man walked out in front of the participants catching everyone's attention as his voice rang out. This old man was Danzo.

"I will now explain the contents of the test," Danzo said as someone appeared next to Danzo and handed him a scroll.

Opening the scroll, Danzo then said loudly "This is a life or death test, there will only be one survivor out of the twenty-four of you. Those who don't want to participate, please leave right now, for there won't be any more chances." Looking up Danzo saw no one move before he continued speaking, "The rules are simple, the last one standing wins. As long as there is more than one participant alive, then the test has not yet finished. Weapons are allowed. Nothing is excluded."

Walking away Danzo gave a nod towards the referee.

Seeing Danzo's nod, the referee then said, "You may begin!"

Everyone jumped away from each other as they pulled out their weapons getting ready for combat.

...

"Looks like a battle royal. Too bad, but I will be the victor!" Ren thought inwardly as he gripped his sword with a freezing glint in his eyes.

Making eye contact with another man who had dark blue eyes and a buzzcut, Ren dashed towards him at a speed the man couldn't even react too. With a quick thrust, Ren's sword instantly pierced the man's heart thus destroying it.

Flicking the sword to get the blood off, Ren couldn't help but feel sick as it was his first time killing someone, but he still resolved himself as he rushed towards more people clashing.

Unlike the previous victim, the two fighting were able to react to Ren's quick speed as they both jumped back from locking their swords and kunai with each other and both threw kunais and shurikens at Ren. One of the kunai had a paper bomb attached as it blew up right in front of Ren's face.

"Did we get him?" One of the men said while panting.

However, before he could let out another sentence, he heard the screeches of what sounded like birds followed by a "Chidori!". As he looked at the smoke from the explosion, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him. Going limp, the man lost consciousness as Ren pulled out his arm from the man's body.

Looking at his former opponent make create dust clouds as his body fell limp onto the ground. The man instantly felt terrified as his vision distorted as his field of view turned upside down and he could now see his body. He had been decapitated.

...

Covered in blood and filth, Ren was breathing heavily while he looked at dozens of corpses around him. The putrid smell of blood and rotting flesh being set ablaze invaded Ren's nose as he stood there feeling nauseous.

"Congratulations Ren Uchiha, you are from now on a member of Root!"